2015 San Jose Buddhist Sensei Memorial Tournament

This past Sunday, February 8th, was the Sensei Memorial SJB tournament. This was a level D tournament for the Black Belts, a national level tournament. There were over 700 competitors registered from all over the country.

DeLeon Judo Club had 12 contestants competing. For many of our competitors it was there first time competing. The club came in 16th in overall points against many of the largest clubs in the country competing.

Michelle L. was the first to compete. This was her first competition. She had 3 matches. She competed very well, did her best, and fought well. She came home with her first medal, 3rd place.

Joe L. This was his first competition. He was in a 6 man pool. His first match he threw his opponent in just a few seconds for Ippon. His next 3 matches were not so easy for him as he fought well. Although he did not place he made our club proud.

Dylan B. this was also his first tournament and he was placed into a 6 man pool of mainly yellow belts. Dylan fought valiantly in all four of his matches (all of which lasted almost the full time) even scoring a yuko with an osoto gari. Although he did not place he showed great skill and courage in his first competition.

Jack M. Jack was in a 6 man pool. He won all his matches with an Ippon, going undefeated. Jack showed great determination and effort both as a competitor and a judoka. The first match was won by submission from tate shiho gatame, the next two with ko soto/osoto gari, and the final with kesa gatame coming in 1st place. He shined as a judoka when he helped to cheer up others expressing that it takes hard work and perseverance to succeed and that he didn’t always win.

Lautaro He was in a 4 man pool. In his first match, he was quickly thrown for a waza ari, then pinned to finish the ippon. He also lost his 2nd match. His 3rd match, however, was a different story. While there was no score at all at the end of the match, Lautaro had spent the entire time attacking his opponent, who got a shido for not attacking at all. Lautaro won this match, showing great poise and spirit.

Malena Pool of 3. Malena lost her first match, with an o goshi to a pin. Her second match, she came out came out strong, going for her grip immediately. Unfortunately, she lost this one as well, but showed great effort and determination. She came in 3rd place.

Kendall M. Her hard practice, staying late whenver she can, and even coming early when she can even when she had basketball practice paid off. She went undefeated winning all her matches with a Ippon, She used both tachiwaza (standing techniques) and newaza (mat techniques) against her opponents to get her Ippons. She took 1st place.

Colton P. He was in a 6 man pools. Using tani otoshi and maki komi to win two matches, kesa gatame to win another and switching between yoko shiho and kesa gatame to tighten his hold which resulted in a win by submission. Colton went undefeated taking 1st place.

Sterling P. Sterling had a difficult day with his competitors, not his usual confident fighter that he usually is. However he fought well coming in 3rd place.

Isabelle B. She was in a pool of 3 girls with Alessia. This made for a FUN competition. Isabelle beat the other opponent. with an osaekome. In fighting Alessia, she went after her with a Kiai, but did not scare Alessia Eventually Alessia threw Isabelle. She came in 2nd place.

Alessia G. Alessia defeated both of her matches with Ippon, taking 1st place. This was Alessia’s third competition taking first place in major tournaments. The Palo Alto Invitational, one of the largest local tournament, Winter Nationals in So. Cal. and now Sensei Memorial.Courtney M. She was in a 4 person pool. She won her first match with a great ko soto gari, for Ippon. Her second match, her opponent was going crazy, and managed to take Courtney down. Courtney also lost her third match, taking 3rd place.